When Blessings Become Idols: Breaking Free from the Golden Calf Trap

0:00 Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I'm your host, Connie Morris, and I'm thrilled to continue our series, The Games We Play with God. Today, we're talking about playing with idolatry. Idolatry isn't just about the golden statues or ancient rituals. It's about anything that takes God's place in our hearts. It's easy to fall into this trap, especially in today's world where success, relationship, and material possession often compete for our devotions.

0:41 Our focus will be on the story of the golden calf in Exodus 32. Wow. So I want you to take the opportunity and read that. We talk about idols. In idols, we think about the golden calf. But what is taking the place of God in your heart? You know, is it fame? Is it fortune? You know, instead of reading your Bible, what are you reading? What are you doing? What are some things that you know you should be doing, but you decided that I'd rather do this? Is it YouTube? Is it I want to be famous? I don't know what that is. But let's see what happens when idolatry takes the place of God.

1:25 And so if you ever struggle to keep God's first place in your life, this episode is definitely for you. So let's read from Exodus 32 verses 1 through 6. So a little background. Moses went up to the mountain to spend time with God. Left Aaron in charge. And so now Aaron is a priest. So Aaron was in charge. Just wonder what was going on in Aaron's heart, but let's pick it up here. When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain. They gathered around Aaron and said, come make us gods who will go before us.

2:10 As for this fellow Moses who brought us out of Egypt, We don't know what has happened to him. So Aaron answered them, Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing and bring them to me. So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed to him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. I'm stopping because I'm seeing, like, before they left, they were slaves. And what did they, before they left to the wilderness, you know, Moses had the plague thing going.

3:00 And God said, you will not leave empty-handed. And so the Egyptian women gave them silver and gold. So they were actually wearing the silver and gold in the wilderness. You gotta imagine this So they are blinging everywhere. They knew that Moses was going up to see God and talk to God about some things. So now suddenly Moses is gone and then they have this dumb spirit come upon them. We don't know what happened to Moses, but can you help us? Can you help us? And so it reminds you of the Korah spirit here, right?

3:40 The Korah is like, Moses is gone, so let us play. So there's always, I don't know about you, but even in the church group or in any group, there's always this little pack of people, maybe one or two, sometimes it's four, that would say, I don't know if the boss is gone, let's do this. And pretty much changing the whole program sometimes when the boss leaves. Or if the pastor leaves for a vacation, if he leaves the wrong people in charge, They're trying to change the whole church just for the whole week or two that they're gone. You know, you're like, hold up. Hold up. What did Moses tell you, Aaron?

4:24 How did you get this gold and silver? It was a blessing from God. Taking the blessings that God has given you and turning that into the idol. You ever done that before? God's giving you the blessings. And so you got the blessings from prayer, you got the blessings from tithing and giving, and now you've taken that blessing and you're making it into an idol. So that's why I paused. I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. It says, and then Aaron, who was called, you have to read your Bible, Aaron was anointed and appointed like as a sidekick for Moses. So he knew better.

5:09 He knew better. He could have told these fellas, Moses will be back. Let's have a little prayer session. Let's do some offerings. Let's just kind of wait. Let's wait, not kind of wait. Let's just wait to see what God has to say through Moses. But no, no, no. Aaron decided that he's going to put together an idol. Let's keep going. I'm just kind of amazed because every time you read the Bible, you get a new revelation. So you take what God has given you and you turn that into an idol. A new car. You can't go to church because your car, I got to wash my car.

5:52 Why on Sunday? Can you watch it on Saturday? Got a new boat. God bless you. You're rich, but you can't go to church on Sunday, not even for an hour because you got to ride that boat on that Sunday afternoon. You got to get docked in by a certain time. You got things to do on your regular prayer time usually you have prayer on a Sunday or a Monday or whatever day you were at you're a small group but you can't do that anymore because you're too blessed, taking that idol taking that blessing that God has given you and making it into an idol leaving God out, used to read your Bible but now you're too busy with your new podcast you don't have time to read your Bible Why?

6:39 Because it's bringing you money and it becomes an idol Let me just stop, let's go The Israelites grew impatient waiting for Moses And turned to an idol to fill the void Ouch, what are you turning to to fill the void? They replaced their trust in the living God With something tangible Something that they could control I'm going to say it again The Israelites grew impatient, waiting for Moses, and turned to an idol to fill the void. They replaced their trust in the living God with something tangible, something they could control.

7:19 Idolatry often stems from impatience and a desire for control. When God's timing doesn't match ours, we look for something else to fill the gap. Just going to pause for effect, right? Because we wait for God and God's moving at his pace, his timing, because you got to get people lined up to bless you. So it takes a little bit because, you know, people don't want to be lining up. But yet they're lined up. They have to be lined up. But just because there's a little space in there, you're filling that gap. Like these people, the Israelites, took their blessings that God gave them and created an idol.

8:05 Idolatry stems from the desire for control. God is moving too slow. I'm going to control this space. So I'm going to fill this gap with something else. Where have you placed your trust when God was silent or distant. Idolatry isn't just about physical objects. It's about the posture of our hearts. Anything we prioritize above God becomes an idol, whether it's a job, a relationship, or even our own ambition. You know, I just recently resigned from a job. And the job, and I don't usually, I don't resign from jobs.

8:46 This was the first job I ever had to resign from since I've been working as a 15-year-old child. But this job wanted me to take, wanted to occupy all my space. And I was saying, like, that was the reason I was late on my podcast. All my space. They just, you keep this Outlook calendar, and they just wanted to fill every space. But I just refused to have that happen. I like to do my podcast. You promised me a work-life balance. I'm doing more work than life. And I decided that I want my life back. I want my time back. Spent some time praying to my heavenly father.

9:27 Worked out, called it an exit strategy. And I did an exit strategy. On the day that I left that position, I had two interviews lined up. An interview that I had the day before. I left the day I decided to leave. They called me back. I mean, it's like when you trust God, your job doesn't have to be your idol. You have to be specific, though, because when I took the job, they offered me what I prayed for, but they lied. You will see another devotional I wrote. It's called The Lions and the Liars. It's so good. It's so good.

10:08 But let's get back to this. Your job can be an idol. Your new boyfriend, your new girlfriend can be an idol. Even your dreams, your ambitions can be an idol. Whenever it squeezes out God. Exodus 23 says it best. It says, you should have no other gods before me. I'm going to say it again. You say, you should have no other gods before me. Small case, if you feel like you're going to squeeze God out so you can go make that money, then you're thinking like, okay, I can do this on my own until you can't.

10:50 Until you can't. You tithe and you give, and then God will make room for you. I was like, I'm going to tithe on this little check, and I'm going to believe God that I ain't got to work this hard. I'm not a lazy person, but I can find something better than them sucking me dry. I couldn't even sleep at night because you're off schedule because you're working too much. Right and so if that's you then you need to kind of realize maybe your job has be become an idol and maybe you're not trusting you're trusting in your boss to be your provider and he gonna squeeze you squeeze every little juice out of you so trust in God tithe off of that that money you have and then trust in him and I guarantee you God will show up in a big and mighty way but let's go, So God said, he said, ye, you shall know that God's before me.

11:48 God commands us to worship him alone, not because he's controlling, but because he knows that nothing else can satisfy our souls. Idolatry leads to emptiness, but worshiping God leads to fulfillment. You know that to be true. You work this job, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. You work this relationship, you work your ambitions. And when you get that goal, when you get that promotion, it feels empty. You know, the job that I was at gave me a raise really quick. And I said, oh, that's a nice raise, but it didn't fulfill me. It was like, no, it's still stealing my time.

12:30 It's still stealing my time away from my God, away from the things he told me to do. Remember, if God has told you to do some things, he didn't change his mind. Those things still have to be done. I'm just going to keep going. So what are the golden calves in your life that competes with God for your devotion? I don't know. You better write that down. What are the golden calves in your life that competes with God for your devotion? Let's keep going. The consequences of idolatry. The loss of God. The loss of God's favor.

13:11 Wow. The Israelites decided to create a golden calf had devastating consequences. Where are they? The loss of God's favor. We need God's favor. Favor is more valuable than cash, more net. God's anger burned against them, and Moses had to intercede to prevent their destruction. God says every knee will bow. When he says you should have no other gods before me, he means that. And so while you put in this job, this relationship, or your ambitions above God, Do not be surprised if they get lost, if God decides to snatch those away from you or allow the devil to steal, kill, and destroy those items.

13:56 He says, you will not. He'll say, ye shall not. When God put that shawl in there, that shawl is what it shall be. I don't know why the phone rings in the middle of my podcast. Sorry about that. Next one. I have it on. All right. A loss of favor. Number two, broken relationship with God. Idolatry creates a barrier between us and God, disrupting the intimacy he desires with us. So you got a broken relationship.

14:40 You got loss of God's favor. That's why you feel empty. That's why you feel empty. And number three, corporate impact. The actions of a few affect the entire community, resulting in judgment and loss. I'm just going to have to repeat this because I was interrupted by that phone call and I had to put it on mute. There we go. So Israelites' decision to create the golden calf had devastating consequences. Loss of God's favor, broke relationship with God, and that act, those people, remember, I don't think it was a whole crew, but it was enough people that interrupted their conversation.

15:25 Make sure you read the Exodus story. God had to stop talking to Moses to say, Moses, go check on your people. Go check on your people. they're down there. They didn't just make a calf. They had an orgy. They had a party going on. As though Moses, as though they forgot the purpose of the, I call it the escape. The reason they left slavery was to go into the wilderness to worship the Lord. That was the whole purpose that God wanted to bring them into the wilderness so they can worship me. Let them go so that my people can worship me.

16:07 When we get free from something that got maybe a bad relationship, a bad job, you got a new focus on transitioning from a new ambition that gives you more time to more peace, more space, it's for your time that you can worship the Lord, not to fill it with empty idol worship. Jonah 2a says, those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them. Jonah could talk. You know, Jonah has something to say because Jonah knew what happened. Jonah is supposed to go one way, he went another way, but he is up speaking into this one. He says, those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them.

16:52 So you choose an idol over God's love. An idol that can't talk, see, can't do nothing. It moves when you move because it doesn't have legs, doesn't have arms, doesn't have a voice, doesn't have sight. I want a God that lives, breathes, and can move. Don't we want that? Idolatry doesn't just harm us. It causes us to turn away from the very source of love and life. How do we do that? How do we break free from idolatry? How do we stop playing this dangerous game of idolatry? Here we go. Identify your idols. Ask God to reveal anything in your life that's taking its place.

17:35 Once again, Psalms 139.23 says it best. It says, search me, God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. Surrender control. Trust God's timing and provision, even when it feels difficult. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. And refocus your worship. Spend intentional time in prayer, worship, and the Word to keep God at the center of your life. Surrender control is trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding. That's found in Proverbs 3.5. Refocus your worship.

18:17 Scripture, Psalms 95.6, it says, Come, let us bow down and worship. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. I went through that pretty fast. I'm going to slow it down just one more. Identify your idols. So ask God, Lord, what am I exalting above you? Number two, surrender control. Let go. Let go. I resigned from a job. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I was leaving there. How about that? I knew I was getting out of that place, Lord. I want to do that. But before that, a Lord whispered in my ear. He said, I have a ram in the bush for you. And that was enough.

18:58 Where's the ram? When am I going to see the ram? I really didn't care. The Lord saw my pain. He saw that I worked with excellence. You know, I did the job with excellence until the last day. I finished what I started. Only thing I didn't do is give a two-week notice because I didn't have two weeks to give. I was exhausted. And I ended well. And so I surrendered my control on what's next and let God do it. Number three, refocus your worship. Spend intentional time in prayer and worship in the word. Make that your center. That'll fill that empty hole. And I love the scripture. It says, come let us bow down in worship.

19:41 Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. Let's start over, start over fresh. Like I said in the first introduction. That God is ready for us to get serious about Him so that, serious about him so he can get serious about us. He's always been serious about us, but he wants to show off his children. You ever know how we dress up when we had that? When we, as our kids were young, we'd dress up our little boy and little girls in their little Easter suits, and we just want to show them off. And as they got older, we found different ways to show them off. God was ready to show us off, but we can't keep having these idols.

20:24 He doesn't want to bless you and it becomes an idol. He doesn't want to do that. Can he trust you with a blessing without you turning it into a golden calf and then putting it as a worship to that thing instead of him? Can I hear an amen to that? So how do we do that? Let's declare some truth to refocus our worship on God. I decree that I will have no other God before the Lord. For he alone is worthy of my worship. I want to say that again. I decree that I will have no other gods before the Lord, for he alone is worthy of my worship.

21:09 I decree that I would trust God's timing and resist the temptation to create my own solution. I think I got to say that again, because you know how we are. We like to create a plan B. God said, I am your plan. A, B, C, D, E, F, G. I decree that I will trust God's timing and resist the temptation to create my own solution. I decree that my heart belongs to God and I will worship him in spirit and in truth. What's your takeaway for today? I want you to reflect on an area in your life where idols may have crept in.

21:49 Ask yourself, am I placing my trust in something other than God? How can I refocus my worship and devotion on Him? A challenge. Set aside 15 minutes each day to worship God without distraction. Use this time to reflect on His goodness and reaffirm your trust in Him. Let's close out in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank You. I thank You. I thank you for being the only one worthy of our worship, the only one worthy of our praise. Forgive us for the times we place other things above you in our hearts.

22:32 Teach us to trust you fully and to wait on your timing. Help us to break free from the idols in our lives and to worship you in spirit and in truth. Or help us to not turn our blessings into idols, but to keep our focus on the provision of our blessings. And we trust in you, Lord God. In Jesus' name, amen. So good. Thank you for joining me on this episode. The games we play with God. Let's start playing with God, y'all. If today's message challenged you or encouraged you, Share it with someone who needs it and subscribe so you don't miss the next episode where we'll talk about game number seven, negotiating with God.

23:21 Until next time, stay devoted, stay focused, and be blessed. Amen.